Breaking off 1955

Curator: Just look at the details! The tiny cracks on the walls, the delicate figures... it has such an intense otherworldly melancholy! Editor: It does, it's beautiful. This is "Breaking off" by Remedios Varo, created in 1955. She uses tempera, gouache, and coloured pencil to produce these highly detailed, symbolic allegories. Curator: "Breaking off"—perfect title. It speaks to both the obvious departure of our robed figure descending the stairs, and perhaps something within the architecture itself. Like an ending chapter, the story’s turning a new page... though perhaps with reluctance, right? Editor: Perhaps. I read the scene as speaking to institutions and the people inside them, looking at them, judging. I note how the white cloths emanating from the heads in the upper-story windows feel reminiscent of thoughts, anxieties, or whispered opinions being pushed out, becoming physical objects affecting our anonymous subject below. It is as if societal or even familiar pressures are now literally impacting this figure. Curator: Oh, I like that take on the cloth, the visualization of silent judgement. Those gazes from the windows though – I see it slightly differently. Rather than just judging, perhaps those in the tower are yearning to release this person? Like letting a small bird leave its nest? The cloths are signals or almost prayers to aid on a voyage of their own personal, emotional autonomy... Editor: I see what you mean; and the staircase can almost be seen as a path from the ivory tower toward the wider world of earthy colour in the foreground. Even so, given Varo's history living under fascism, and then facing displacement, it's hard not to think of social control whenever I see an architectural space containing mysterious figures. I am intrigued by what the artist tells, but perhaps more curious about all that remains unspoken... Curator: Unspoken, yes! A reminder of those many untold tales... Thanks to the tempera and gouache, the muted colors almost give off a slightly decayed feel. As though memories are seeping out from the bricks of time and emotion! A wonderful visual metaphor in her distinctive language. Editor: Indeed. Varo’s visuals truly resonate in the socio-political landscape then and now. The art historical record also remembers and projects... Curator: Right. Leaving us always asking so many questions.